Western Sydney Wanderers

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - The sale of A-League club Western Sydney Wanderers should reap Australian football about A$10 million (5.47 million pounds), the country's football boss Frank Lowy said on Tuesday. Ownership of the club, runners-up in the top-flight domestic competition in their maiden season last year, will pass to a consortium of businessmen from Football Federation Australia, who started up the expansion club nearly two years ago with the help of A$4 million of...

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Former Japan playmaker Shinji Ono believes Western Sydney Wanderers have the mental strength to become the first Australian club to win the Asian Champions League, even if they will have to do it without him. The 34-year-old signed off after two years with the Sydney start-up club by helping them into the last eight of the ACL on Wednesday, setting up both goals as they beat Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2-0 to overhaul a 3-1 first leg...

SYDNEY, Nov 20 (Reuters) - David Beckham's announcement that he will be bringing an end to his career in North America next month sparked a race to lure the former England captain to Australia on Tuesday. Already fired up by Football Federation Australia (FFA)'s announcement last week that Beckham's representatives had been in touch, A-league clubs have been lining up to signal their intention to have the 37-year-old in their midfield. The clubs were clearly undeterred by a...

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Sydney FC are up in arms about the proposed rebranding of Melbourne Heart in line with club owners Manchester City, protesting that there is only room for A-League team playing in sky blue. Twice champions Sydney have played in sky blue, the state colour of New South Wales, for 10 years, while Heart have played in red and white stripes since they entered the league in 2010. Manchester City led the consortium which bought Heart in January and are expected to change...

MELBOURNE, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Alessandro Del Piero's Australian adventure is not going according to plan, with his adopted club Sydney FC in the doldrums and a hamstring injury compounding the Italian World Cup winner's woes. The long-time Juventus stalwart joined Sydney to much fanfare in the off-season but despite the 38-year-old's best efforts, his side have nose-dived to the bottom of the 10-team league after 10 rounds. Del Piero signed a one-year deal with an...

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - The sale of A-League club Western Sydney Wanderers should reap Australian football about A$10 million (5.47 million pounds), the country's football boss Frank Lowy said on Tuesday. Ownership of the club, runners-up in the top-flight domestic competition in their maiden season last year, will pass to a consortium of businessmen from Football Federation Australia, who started up the expansion club nearly two years ago with the help of A$4 million of...

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Former Japan playmaker Shinji Ono believes Western Sydney Wanderers have the mental strength to become the first Australian club to win the Asian Champions League, even if they will have to do it without him. The 34-year-old signed off after two years with the Sydney start-up club by helping them into the last eight of the ACL on Wednesday, setting up both goals as they beat Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2-0 to overhaul a 3-1 first leg...

MELBOURNE, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Factbox on Ange Postecoglou, who was named Australia's new head coach on Wednesday. Born: Aug. 27, 1965 PLAYING CAREER * Athens-born Postecoglou played nearly 200 games as a defender for top-flight club South Melbourne in Australia's defunct National Soccer League, and a handful of appearances for Australia from 1986-88. EARLY COACHING CAREER * Postecoglou became head coach of South Melbourne in 1996, leading them to...

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Sydney FC are up in arms about the proposed rebranding of Melbourne Heart in line with club owners Manchester City, protesting that there is only room for A-League team playing in sky blue. Twice champions Sydney have played in sky blue, the state colour of New South Wales, for 10 years, while Heart have played in red and white stripes since they entered the league in 2010. Manchester City led the consortium which bought Heart in January and are expected to change...

MELBOURNE, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Alessandro Del Piero's Australian adventure is not going according to plan, with his adopted club Sydney FC in the doldrums and a hamstring injury compounding the Italian World Cup winner's woes. The long-time Juventus stalwart joined Sydney to much fanfare in the off-season but despite the 38-year-old's best efforts, his side have nose-dived to the bottom of the 10-team league after 10 rounds. Del Piero signed a one-year deal with an...

SYDNEY, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Italian great Alessandro Del Piero is slowly coming to terms with his new surroundings but he is happy with his progress in Australia so far. The 37-year-old former Juventus stalwart joined Australia's Sydney FC last month on a two-year contract the club said was the highest in Australian professional sport. Local media reported it was worth A$2 million ($2.05 million) a year. "I'm not 100 percent, definitely," Del Piero told reporters...

SYDNEY, Nov 20 (Reuters) - David Beckham's announcement that he will be bringing an end to his career in North America next month sparked a race to lure the former England captain to Australia on Tuesday. Already fired up by Football Federation Australia (FFA)'s announcement last week that Beckham's representatives had been in touch, A-league clubs have been lining up to signal their intention to have the 37-year-old in their midfield. The clubs were clearly undeterred by a...

MELBOURNE, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Factbox on Ange Postecoglou, who was named Australia's new head coach on Wednesday. Born: Aug. 27, 1965 PLAYING CAREER * Athens-born Postecoglou played nearly 200 games as a defender for top-flight club South Melbourne in Australia's defunct National Soccer League, and a handful of appearances for Australia from 1986-88. EARLY COACHING CAREER * Postecoglou became head coach of South Melbourne in 1996, leading them to...

SYDNEY, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Italian great Alessandro Del Piero is slowly coming to terms with his new surroundings but he is happy with his progress in Australia so far. The 37-year-old former Juventus stalwart joined Australia's Sydney FC last month on a two-year contract the club said was the highest in Australian professional sport. Local media reported it was worth A$2 million ($2.05 million) a year. "I'm not 100 percent, definitely," Del Piero told reporters...